1. Field of the Invention
The invention herein pertains to an automated bagging apparatus suitable for use in the hosiery industry, and particularly to an improved bagging apparatus which eliminates excess space in the bag prior to sealing.
2. Description of the Prior Art And Objectives of the Invention
Automated bagging devices are common in the hosiery industry, and typically perform the functions of: placing hosiery in a plastic bag; moving the filled bag to a heat sealer; sealing the bag by fusing the plastic lips of the bag together and sending the sealed bag to a further point along the assembly line. These machines often have a common failing in that they routinely mis-seal the bags, by leaving too much space in the bags after sealing. In bags where there is too much space, the hosiery contained therein sags when vertically displayed such as in a retail store. Marketing dictates that no more than approximately one quarter inch (0.635 cm) of space exist between the top seal of the bag and the top of the hosiery contained therein to prevent excess sagging. Likewise, if this tight tolerance is not met, there can be much wasted space in the shipping cartons used to ship the hosiery from the factory to its ultimate retail store.
When there is not excess space in the bag after sealing by prior art machines, frequently too little spacing causes the bagging machine to seal the bag with the hosiery caught along the seal line. This results damages to the package and in unsalability of hosiery as the melted plastic bag adheres to the hosiery.
Thus, with the problems associated with the prior bagging machines, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automated bagging apparatus which eliminates excess space in a sealed bag while preventing the bag from inadvertently sealing atop the hosiery.
It is another object to sufficiently compress the hosiery within the bag.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a bagging apparatus for incorporation in automated hosiery production lines.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a device which uses pneumatic power as is commonly used on hosiery assembly lines.
It is still a further object to provide a bagging apparatus wherein the sealing and trimming of the bag occurs contemporaneously for efficiency purposes.
It is yet another object to provide a bagging apparatus which can be adjusted to seal the bags for any number of desired hosiery or bag sizes.
It is a further object to provide a bagging apparatus which corrects a misaligned stack of hosiery after bagging.
It is still a further object to provide a method of bagging socks which eliminates excess space in the bag prior to sealing.
Still further objects and advantages of the invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains upon reference to the following detailed description.